


The Knight In Worn Armor and The Prince Without A Crown

by Underestimated_amateur



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Dino Charge
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Au Where there's a clock on your wrist that counts down until you meet your soulmate, HE JUST WANTS TO BE LOVED GUYS, Ivan's side of the story, Longing, M/M, Show Compliant, Soul-clocks, maybe not, maybe there's a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-06
Updated: 2016-04-06
Packaged: 2018-05-31 14:19:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6473755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Underestimated_amateur/pseuds/Underestimated_amateur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>718 years, 6 months, 2 weeks, 4 days, 21 hours, 9 minutes, and 54 seconds.</p><p>That’s what the clock told him. 718 years. Ivan felt his stomach twist painfully and his heart tighten as his blood ran cold. He will never get to meet his soulmate. They weren’t in his generation, they weren’t even in his century. </p><p>And be it out of hurt, anger, or betrayal, that day Ivan gives up on soulmates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Knight In Worn Armor and The Prince Without A Crown

There is no certain date when one would get their soul-clock, it just typically happens before the age of 25. Ivan receives his at fifthteen. And just like that, the day that’s supposed to be one of his best turns into the worst day of his life.

 

718 years, 6 months, 2 weeks, 4 days, 21 hours, 9 minutes, and 54 seconds.

That’s what the clock told him. 718 years. Ivan felt his stomach twist painfully and his heart tighten as his blood ran cold. His soulmate, his life partner, his other half. He will never get to meet them. They weren’t in his generation, they weren’t even in his century. He will never see them, never know of their gender, height, appearance, likes and dislikes, he’ll never know them. He felt cheated in a way. How could the world do this to a person? Like holding a toy above a child’s head, saying, ‘Here, here, come on, do you not you want it?’ Laughing as the little one tries their best to reach for the very thing they want most─ and it’s right there, so close they could almost touch it. But then the bully lifts it higher, completely out of reach. And that’s it. It is right there, but out of reach. Only to taunt, only to mock.

And be it out of hurt, anger, or betrayal, that day Ivan gives up on soulmates.

 

 

*

 

 

Two years later, he’s seventeen and he is the prince of Zander’s personal knight. It’s one of the most honorable and noble positions in all of the country. And he fills it.

As he walks the halls of the stone castle he notices people young and old find their other half nearly everyday. Some of the half of the soulmate pairs come from neighboring lands, some are just down the hall. No one hardly notices it when it happens, unless the couple make a big deal of it, but he always sees it almost as soon as it happens. As he passes a young pair of a girl and a boy─ the newest of met soulmates for now─ he smiles politely at them, because he was raised a gentleman as much as he was to strike down an enemy. So he bites the inside of his cheek to keep from doing something childish like taking his frustrations out upon innocents that have done nothing wrong to him. Subconsciously, he holds his right wrist, hand over his own clock. It’s pointless, no one could see it anyway; ever since he discovered the harsh truth to his watch he has always worn long sleeves or wrappings to cover it up. The thing is, as much as he tells himself he’s given up on soulmates, he still thinks about his own.

716 years, 8 months, 3 weeks, 5 days, 11 hours, 2 minutes, and 07 seconds, his clock had read when he checked this morning.

There are some nights when he falls asleep he dreams his clock changes and in the next second he’ll meet his beloved, his other half. Then he wakes up, and with a rush of adrenaline and hope he checks the clock on his wrist. Only to have his world shattered all over again when he sees he still has so long to wait. Except, he’ll be long dead before his soulmate is even born. The first time he really thinks upon it he freezes, because he finally realizes what it also means for his soulmate.

His poor soulmate.

He feels ten times worse, tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. He’s soulmate will live and die alone as well. By gods, they’ll be born with a scare on their wrist. They’ll grow up like him, devastated and wondering why the world is so cruel. They’ll be so lonely. His entire body aches at the very thought. What would they think of him, how he left them all alone? Would they wonder about him as much as he does them? Will they dream about how he might look or sound? He wishes there was a way he could let them know he would have loved them, that he would have cared for them, protected them with everything he had, and happily grown old with them.

He wishes he could tell them how sorry he is he can not be with them.

 

 

*

 

 

He is eighteen, and he is not sure how this is what his life has become.

‘Clang!’

The sound of sword meeting sword is heard along with the foul monster’s roars of battle and the current of the stream he and the prince had stopped at for a short rest. They had just discovered an intriguing golden stone when a roar erupts from behind them. His sworn duty is to protect Prince Collin and he swears upon his entire being he’ll do just that till his last breath. He had pushed the boy back from the creature’s─ a thing from pure nightmare─ attack. The monster look of a lion, tiger, and deer, red in face with claws and fangs, a monstrosity he has never seen before.

Realizing the knight will prove to be a tough fight, the powerful beast raises his swords to send blasts of lightning from his blade at the defenseless prince. Without hesitation, Ivan steps in front of the boy, protecting him from the attack. The blast; however, sends them flying in opposite ways. He sees a flash of gold and knows the crystal they found must have been knocked out of Sir Collins hands and lands near him. He has little time to dwell on the fact as the monster moves to strike him again while he is down. Through instinct of years of mastering in fighting and swordplay, he blocks with his own blade. He feels the vibration of their swords clashing together deep in his bones. Next, he is less sure of what happens. The gem next to him begins to glow and the light it emits travels from his enemy’s blade and across his own. The light continually stretches from his sword to him and suddenly he feels this rush of untapped power. He manages to push the beast away, the creature stumbling back. Twisting his body around, he goes to pick the mysterious golden rock up, but before he can he feels himself being grabbed. He looks over his shoulder and, to his utter horror, sees another burst of power had erupted from the creature, but instead of electrifying him, it wraps around him and drags him to the beast. He struggles and thrashes, knowing what’s happening and refusing to be apart of it. But alas, all his struggles are in vain and he’s sucked deep inside the dark and corrupted body of the beast.

His last thought is of his soulmate he’ll never see.

 

 

*

 

 

At first he thinks he’s died. Darkness surrounds him like an empty void. Looking down, he pulls back his sleeve and unwraps the wrappings around his wrist. His clock is still counting down; he’s alive. It would have stopped and scar if he wasn’t.

He frowns at the blackness around him. He’s alive, so he’ll stop at nothing to be free again.

 

 

*

 

 

He doesn’t feel the outside world nor does he see or hear any of it either. But he watches as his clock counts down, letting him know how much time has passed.

218 years, 10 months, 1 week, 6 days, 21 hours, 34 minutes, and 17 seconds.

He’s not sure how to feel about that.

 

 

*

 

 

He seizes the first opportunity he sees, and the second, and the third. At one point in time, his captor began to weaken. He almost makes it out all three times, but Fury─ over the time he’s learned the name of the creature he is a prisoner to along with a few things about the strange golden stone─ had somehow found ways to overpowered him. During his second escape attempt he felt something from the outside world. Longing struck him hard, like he needed the thing that was calling to him. He wasn’t strong enough to reach it. The fourth time he tries he feels something else. He feels the same surge of power he had many years ago when he found that golden stone. Tapping into that power, he manages to force his way out of the monster named Fury. He hits the ground hard, feels a bit fuzzy, and the sunlight is harsh on his eyes, but he could not find it in himself to care. He’s finally free. Thank the heavens, he is free.

“Dad! Dad!” He hears someone shout. He frowns from where he lays in the dirt, bewildered. He is no father to anyone. How could he be? “Dad, you’re okay─” Hands are grabbing his shoulders and rolling him over. He comes face to face with a dark skinned boy he’s never seen before. The stranger must have realized that too, because his face crumbles. “You’re not…” Ivan doesn’t have the chance to feel sorry for him. Losing any family member is hard, he knows, but he has the sudden urge to check his clock. What he finds makes his breath hitch and heartbeat speed up.

00 years, 00 months, 00 weeks, 00 days, 00 hours, 00 minutes, and 03 seconds.

The sound of feet rushing towards him makes him jolt to his feet and turn to face them. When he does he sees the most beautiful thing in his entire life. The boy is short with dark blonde hair, skin of the lightest brown it’s of a cream color, and the most enchanting green eyes he has never known. They’re like little emerald gems, he breathes. The male is but a young man, he notices, too old to be a child, but too young to be an adult. He glances at his clock, and yes, he knows his time is up solemly because of this person.

He watches the breathtaking male’s eyes widen and look down at his own clock. Mouth gaped, he stares back up at Ivan. He knows it too. They have found each other.

“Who are you?” The one from before asks. Ivan turns his attention to him, breaking his and his… soulmate’s moment. Goodness, he’s really met his soulmate, the whole idea feels so surreal. He gives the stranger in red a look over before his soulmate takes his attention once more. No one could blame him. The young man dressed in green, which only compliments his gorgeous eyes, is practically the spitting image of perfection. His mind could never think of anything close to the reality before him. Lifting his chin higher and puffing out his chest with pride in hopes of seeming impressive to his beloved─ later he’ll muse how silly he probably looks─ he introduces himself. “I am Ivan, the knight of Zander.” A part of him likes the way he makes their jaws drop, but he tries not to show it. He hears a grunt nearby and he narrows his eyes, looking over at the creature who had captured him for so long. “Tis my turn to morph.” He announces, looking down at the glowing stone in his hand. To think, all of this happened because of this little rock.

“The energem is mine!” Fury growls.

Ivan says nothing more, merely tosses the stone into the air. He brings forth his stone Ptera morpher, the machine looks years old and something more from his time. When the stone comes down, it slides into his morpher, cracking away the rocks and leaving a new vision of the contraption in its way. At this point, he’s moving on instinct. He feels engulfed by the golden stone’s power, coating his body in a yellow battle suit. Like a knight in armor. “Still think this stone is yours?” He inquires, ready to face his opponent once again. However, this time the fiend isn’t alone.

“Vevix, attack!” Fury commands. The army of smaller white and green creatures that had surrounded Fury, a whole herd of them, charges at the knight. Ivan is not afraid nor will he ever flee from battle. “Leave these creatures to me, I have a score to settle!” He calls to the colorful bunch behind him. He fights back, taking them done one by one. He was born to fight, his whole life he has breathed battle. The ‘Vivix’ are not as well trained, he quickly learns. It’s almost laughable. “These creatures practically leap onto my fist!” He quips, faintly smiling inside his helmet. It feels good to be able to fight and move so freely again. It ends here, he can feel it. No matter what monster attacks him he wages on, and soon he finds himself on the winning side of things. 

Soon with no longer anyone left to fight, he faces the people he’s met only minutes ago as they race over to him. He stares at the blonde male through his helmet and takes note of the way the lad stares back at him in awe. It makes his heart flutter in a way it never has before.

Then there’s a loud screech above them, and they look up at the source of the noise. It’s the Ptera zord. Something is wrong with it, he quickly notices, and he knows it falls upon him to fix it. The poor zoid has suffered enough, the both of them have. He represses a sigh, knowing he’ll have to wait to properly meet the others and his soulmate. Soulmate; the word seems so odd and warming in the chest to use.

“We’ll call our Mega zoid!” The one in red says from behind him. Ivan can feel them begin to follow their leader’s orders, but he holds up his hand to stop them.

“No, this quest is mine.” He needs to do this. It’s time the Ptera zord was free too. And he needs to be the one to do it.

As he goes to save his flying friend he feels someone grab his shoulder. “Wait, wait, wait!” They exclaim. He looks over and discovers his soulmate is clutching tightly onto him, worry embedded in his deep hazel green eyes. “The Ptera Charger Megazord is evil now!”

He chuckles softly despite himself and gives the young man a small reassuring smile. “Not for long. Do not worry, I can handle it.” He promises.

And he does.

 

 

*

 

 

Fury had unsurprisingly fled, the coward. Still, it was a victory. The Ptera zord is no longer under evil’s control, they defeated the monsters that had been companing Fury, and he was a prisoner no more. When he demorphed out of his new suit, the group is on him again. “Sir Ivan!” A young, beautiful, fair maiden greets, smiling. “Hi, I’m Shelby. Welcome to our, uh, century.” 

He smiles kindly, nodding at her in return. A strong fellow approaches him next, grinning and patting his armor like they have been friends for years. He talks slowly, as if he is still learning the language he speaks. “You will like it here. I show you burgers.” He says in a way that makes it sound like whatever a ‘burger’ is, is something to behold. Ivan again nods, directing it to the kind male. He guesses under all that muscle is a soft heart.

As he’s about to acknowledge the person he wants to speak with the most, another figure who is making it’s way to them catches his eye. They must have been observing them from a safe distance. He instantly knows who it is and he kneels humbly to the man, bowing his head respectively. The several years he had been imprisoned did not shake his loyalty. “Sire, I am at your service.” He looks up at the royalty before him while the others are confused by said man’s arrival, holding out the golden stone. “This belongs to the royal family.” He is a bit reluctant to give such a thing he seems so connected to away, but as he had said; it was not his to keep.

The man with his clean gray uttire, brown side-swept hair, and proper posture, seems confused by his actions, as if he really didn’t expect Ivan to recognize him. He takes the stone from Ivan slowly, glancing at it before he looks back at the knight on his knee. “Do you know me?” He asks, blue-gray eyes looking him over curiously.

“I know the royal blood of Zandar when I see it. I have spent my entire life protecting your family.” Ivan explains calmly.

“Ivan of Zandar? Had the monster not destroy you so many years ago?” The prince wonders out loud, dumbstruck by the realization. When the faithful knight shakes his head no, he makes a gesture for Ivan to rise. Ivan stands up on his feet gracefully and intells him further, “I was captured inside of Fury for more than 700 years, until I was aided by that powerful rock did I finally escape.” And meet his soulmate, he adds silently to himself.

“It isn’t just a rock.” Shelby cuts in. “It’s an energem.” She explains. Her and the rest of the little team pull out different stones at the end of their necklaces from underneath their clothing. He finds it slightly amusing all the stones match each of their shirts.

“They have more power than you can ever imagine.” His soulmate, he really needs to learn his name soon, continues for Shelby.

“Millions of years ago, ten energems were lost. We’ve only found five so far.” The male in black says next.

“And the stone of Zandar is the sixth.” The other in red finishes, smiling.

Ivan turns back to the prince. Phillip, he believes that was what the others had called him, glances down at the energem then around at all of them before setting his eyes on him. Prince Phillip hands him the gem and he takes gratefully. “Here, the golden energem is yours to do with as you please.” 

Ivan smiles, “Trust that I shall use it to make the kingdom proud.” The Prince gives him a ‘make sure you do’ nod. When Sir Phillip turns to the male in blue; the muscular soft hearted one, Ivan locks eyes with those beautiful set of green eyes again.

He smiles and takes a step forward, invading the smaller male’s space while everyone else’s gaze is not on them. The other doesn’t step back, but looks nervous, maybe even a bit flustered. “So, we’re soulmates.” His soulmate says, it sounds like a statement and a question at the same time.

“Yes,” Ivan nods, “We are.” His eyes flickers briefly to the other’s lips. He wants so badly to kiss those lips. He meets the young man’s eyes again, and suddenly all those years come crashing down onto him. “I had given up.” He admits softly, trying to keep any quivering out of his voice. “I thought I would never meet you, never know you, never see you, never hold you in my arms, never kiss you goodnight, never hold your hand. I believed I was to die alone, leaving you to the same life of loneliness.” He caresses his soulmate’s, his other half’s, cheek. “Please, what is your name?”

The young man’s eyes turn a mossy green and glisten over with unshed tears at his words. He reaches up and gently holds Ivan’s cheek as well, the new gold ranger leans into the touch. “Riley.” He answers, just as soft. “My name is Riley Griffin. And I am so happy to meet you too, Ivan.” Riley smiles up at him, so warm and sincere it makes the brave knight of Zandar melt for the first time in his life. Ivan wraps his other arm around Riley’s waist, pulling them closer together to where there is no more space between them. The hand on the blonde’s cheek slides down to underneath his chin and tilts his head up. Ivan leans in, cocking his head to the side slightly before laying his warm lips upon Riley’s soft ones. They kiss, and for Ivan it’s peace, and wonder, and enchantment, and everything he never thought it could be. It’s like coming home. He feels Riley wrap his arms around his neck as he kisses back. He never wants to let go of his soulmate who he once thought he’d never live to meet. He wants to hold him like this forever, away from the world that’s full of monsters and other scary things. He thinks this is love, even if he doesn’t fully know this person. But he will. He will know everything a man can know about Riley Griffin.

Because he feels it in his heart Riley Griffin is where he belongs.

When they pull away from their kiss, which felt so long yet not long enough, he thinks it'll never be long enough, they still hold each other close. Ivan thinks maybe Riley feels it to; that if they let go they’ll lose each other forever. His soulmate smiles at him, relaxed and content with a warm flush of pink to his cheeks. “A first kiss already? We just met, isn’t it too soon?” He teases.

Ivan smiles and leans in again, “My little blonde prince, I have waited for more than 718 years to taste your lips. It has been far, far too long." 

 

They lean in and kiss again.

**Author's Note:**

> So there you have it. Mistakes are mine.  
> This pairing is just too cute not to write. 
> 
> So how was it? I don't think I did Ivan's character enough justice, but you be the judge of that. Leave a comment and tell me what you think, if you have any questions ask away, and criticism is welcome. Thank you for reading!


End file.
